


Meet the Skywalkers

by LVB



Series: The Fathers and Smugglers Series [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Humor, ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-29
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2017-10-28 10:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 16,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LVB/pseuds/LVB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Anakin and his family are meeting up for their weekend away at their Naboo lake retreat. What happens when his 18 year old daughter brings home an unwanted guest?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that was first published in 2005. I've edited it, dusted it off, and now I'm presenting it here.

**Prologue: The Proud Father**

 

Anakin Skywalker was a proud father. Sure, he had his moments when his children aggravated him to no end, like when Luke had taken his speeder for a joyride when he was thirteen or when Leia “accidentally” broke his customised light saber. But for the general part of his time as a father, his children had astounded him to no end.

 

They were both the perfect mix of their parents. Luke had the golden hair of his father but shared his mother’s calmer nature. Leia on the other hand was a dazzling brunette but was completely outspoken and irrational, much like her father on his worse days. They were good kids. Their lives had certainly been hectic and both he and Padmè often wondered how they ended up so balanced.

 

After Palpatine was killed, Padmè had quickly been voted the new Supreme Chancellor. Unfortunately, the first year of her job had to be postponed due to the arrival of their two little bundles of joy. Bail Organa had kindly filled in for her while she took her maternity leave.

 

That wasn’t the only disruption in the Skywalker family’s lives. For a while Anakin’s future as a Jedi had been under scrutiny, with the council torn on the decision of what to do about Anakin’s blatant disregard for the Code. In the end, Yoda and Mace had determined that Anakin’s abilities and loyalty to the Order had earned him the right to not be expelled. Secretly, he knew Obi-Wan had argued in his favour, ultimately winning over the two highest Jedi Masters.

 

So Anakin had taken his place on the council yet again. They had officially given him the title of Master but since he had a new role to take, he was limited to a more passive position. He had become one of the most powerful and respected Masters in the Jedi Temple. They only called him out if absolutely necessary.

 

So Leia and Luke had grown up with a Jedi Master for a father, a Supreme Chancellor for a mother, a Jedi Council full of adopted uncles and two babysitter droids who often got shut down in the first half hour. Leia had become very interested in the political scene, so she spent a lot of her time with her mother in the Senate. Padmè had also organised for her daughter to spend lots of time in the palace at Naboo. At the age of seventeen, she had secured her position in the political system, and was creeping up to the position of Senator.

 

Luke had taken after his father however. He showed even less interest in the political scene then Anakin had. Something which he was very proud of. From a young age, he had been training to be a Jedi and had spent all the time away from his family at the temple in Coruscant. Obi-Wan had graciously taken Luke as his padawan. For once, Anakin was actually quite glad. His mentor and his son got along famously.

 

So life had never been dull for the Skywalker family. But Anakin and Padmè both knew their children could be trusted so when the twins turned eighteen, they gave them their blessing to move away from their respective homes on Naboo and on Coruscant. Leia had travelled to Alderaan to spend more time learning about the Senate from her godfather Bail Organa and Luke found permanent residence in the temple. But sure enough, one weekend a month they would meet at their family’s lodge by the lake at Varykino.

 

And so Anakin Skywalker thought his life was content. Until one weekend his daughter bought home a guest. 


	2. Welcome to Varykino!

Sinking into his favourite chair, Anakin smiled. He hadn’t been home for what he felt was the longest time. All he wanted to do was to lie back in his favourite chair and read the HoloNews. As he put his feet up, he flicked through the device looking at the latest news. Flicking through, he found at least five articles that bore the name Skywalker. Quite an achievement for a kid that escaped slavery just by the luck of the Force, he thought.

 

He had just gotten settled when an annoying voice scared him half to death. “Master Ani.”

 

Nearly jumping five feet in the air, Anakin turned to face the wonderfully annoying droid. Why had he dismantled the auto-off device?

 

“Yes, Threepio. What is it?” his tone clearly indicating his annoyance. Oblivious to his Master’s mood, Threepio kept talking.

 

“Mistress Padmè commed Artoo just a moment ago. She will be arriving by the gondola in about fifteen minutes. She also said that Leia was not accompanying her and to expect her to be late this evening”.

 

“Thank you, Threepio. Now please, go busy yourself in the kitchen or go prepare the kid’s rooms. Just do something!”

 

“But Master Ani…”

 

Shooting his droid a look that could scare away Palpatine himself, he threatened “Threepio…”

 

“Oh look, Artoo needs me. Right away, Artoo!”

 

Finally, some peace and quiet, the Jedi Master thought to himself. Just as he had gotten himself settled yet again, he heard a thump in the entrance to his house. The familiar noise of his son arriving home made Anakin groan. The joys of being a parent.

 

“I’m home!” rang out Luke’s voice. Perfect.

 

“In here son,” Anakin replied.

 

Luke walked in, twirling his ignited lightsaber.

 

“Show-off,” teased Anakin. Luke smiled and threw the still ignited saber to his father who caught it and began twirling it in the same way.

 

“Hey, you’re the one who taught me how to do that, Dad. Being a show-off I mean.”

 

Smirking, Anakin threw the saber up into the air and used the Force to bring it back to Luke, disengaging it on the way down. “You’re really funny, Luke. Must have inherited your mother’s sense of humour.”

 

Luke’s padawan braid swung as the young boy laughed heartily at his father. Anakin smiled as he thought back to the conversation Obi-Wan had with him the day before last. Obi-Wan had confessed that he thought Luke was just about ready for his Jedi trials. Unfortunately, Anakin had been sworn to secrecy. He was really very proud of his son.

 

“Speaking of the female members of the Skywalker clan, where are the Chancellor and the Princess?” Both father and son smirked at their inside nicknames for Padmè and Leia. It was a joke they shared but if either of the women in their lives found out…well the consequences would be harsh.

 

“The Chancellor has just arrived, Padawan Skywalker. And you would do well to remember who pays for the upkeep of your Coruscant and Jedi Temple apartments, your ship and your 5000 credit speeder. Not to mention those crystals you ‘needed’ for the saber you haven’t started building yet,” the gentle voice of Padmè Skywalker rang out through the house.

 

“Nice to see you too, Chancellor,” he grinned as he bounded over and hugged his mother. She tousled her son’s hair and planted a kiss on his forehead. Dropping her luggage, she sat down on the seat that was currently being occupied by her husband.

 

“Excuse me, Chancellor. But there seems to be someone already sitting here!” Anakin gently cajoled her.

 

“I apologise, Master Jedi. I seem to have mistaken you for someone else. I was wondering if you knew where that gorgeous husband of mine is?”

 

Laughing, Anakin pulled his wife down for a more intimate kiss. From across the room they heard their son groan and leave the room. “Thank goodness for some privacy,” muttered Padmè into her husband’s lips.

 

“Mmmm,” he mumbled.

 

They continued to kiss until Padmè pulled away for some much needed air. Due to some experimental drugs the Republic scientists had been working on, Padmé didn’t look her forty-five years. She could have passed for thirty. She had let her curly brown hair out but was still wearing an extravagant Senatorial gown. Her face was painted with an intricate design of makeup, very similar to the Nubian custom. It was one of the regulations a female Chancellor had to endure, although Padmé was working quite hard to abolish that rule.

 

“I’d better go change, Ani. I feel like an idiot wearing these ridiculous work outfits and makeup here at the retreat.”

 

Just as Padmé stood up, Threepio marched into the room. Anakin frowned.

 

“Threepio, I thought I told you to stop bothering us!!” he nearly shouted.

 

“Yes, Master Ani. But I’m afraid I have something important to tell you. Mistress Leia just contacted Artoo with a message. It seems she is bringing home a guest for the weekend.”


	3. And guest makes five

Leia Skywalker was bringing home a guest to the family retreat. To her Nubian home. To the place where she had grown up and where her family spent one weekend a month. His baby girl was bringing someone here.

 

There was a feeling Anakin couldn’t quite shake off. He had begun to pace in his and Padmé’s bedroom as she sat in front of her vanity to fix her face. “Anakin, stop it will you! You’re driving me insane!”

 

“I have a bad feeling about this, Padmé. Leia is bringing someone home! Have you ever known our daughter to do such a thing?! Who is this person she’s bringing here?!” His voice was rushed and slightly panicked. Padmé began to giggle.

 

“Ani, please relax! Leia isn’t a girl anymore. She’s a young woman now. She doesn’t even live on the same planet as you do, for Force sake! Now isn’t the time to be playing the paranoid father role,” she reasoned.

 

Anakin simply muttered and stormed out of the room. Unfortunately for Luke, he was headed straight for his room. Without even knocking, Anakin opened the door using the Force. Right away! Luke could tell his father was angry. Anakin had a way of being quite obvious when he was annoyed.

 

“Dad? What’s up?” Luke asked earnestly.

 

“Have you seen Leia lately?”

 

Luke inwardly groaned. He loved his sister, really. But sometimes she was just a pain in the backside. He hated to have to lie to his parents. He knew exactly what Leia had been doing the past month. It was the same thing he’d been doing. But he wasn’t going to be facing the wrath of the Skywalkers alone.

 

“Not really, Dad. Not since we paid Owen and Beru a visit.” Okay, that had been the truth. He just left out the part that he had crashed his ship into Tatooine. That was just a minor detail of course.

 

“So you don’t know who this mysterious visitor is then?”

 

Luke shook his head. “Can’t say that I do, Dad. But come on, it’s Leia. She’s not stupid, you know. And it’s hardly fair to take it out on me,” he whined. “Can’t you wait until she gets here? Ask her!”

 

Raising his hands in defeat, Anakin stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Luke grimaced. Leia was definitely going to get it when she got back.

 

\--

 

Later that evening, the three Skywalkers sat down to eat. Leia had told them not to wait, but Threepio had set the table for the two remaining dinner guests for the evening. Padmé and Luke were talking about Luke’s latest mission with Obi-Wan. They had stopped by Tatooine and had visited the Lars family. Leia had tagged along as well and had planned to leave for Alderaan the next week.

 

Padmé loved to hear about the various exploits of her children. Despite all her duties with the Senate and trying to control an entire Republic, she had always put her duties as a mother first and foremost. Every night for the past eighteen years she had spoken to her children in one form or another. Even when Luke and Leia went on missions together, she made sure she had left messages on their commlinks. Alright, they didn’t always reply but that wasn’t the point. She loved her kids and wanted them to know it.

 

Luke had always been glad that his parents had put so much effort into their upbringing. More often then not, his parents were at separate ends of the galaxy, doing their sworn duty to the Republic. He had gotten used to space travel quite early, travelling from Tatooine to Coruscant to Naboo to Alderaan.

 

But even though the Skywalkers were often at all corners, Luke knew in his heart that his parents were always thinking of him. He couldn’t imagine his life any other way and didn’t even dare contemplate what life would have been like without them. Thinking this way, he sort of understood his father’s unease at Leia’s stunt.

 

“What time is it?” Anakin asked, interrupting any trains of thought.

 

“It’s 18:40, Anakin. Stop asking,” Padmé commanded her husband.

 

Anakin simply continued eating. They were only up to their second course. Suddenly, a very familiar voice rang out through the long corridor leading to the dining area. “I’m home!”

 

Anakin’s eyes lit up. Padmé shot him a glare that silently told him not to even think about opening his mouth.

 

“In here, sister dearest!” called out Luke to his sister. He smirked. This was going to be good.

 

Coming round the corner, Leia stopped and looked at her waiting family. She gulped.

 

“Mother, Father…”

 

 _Uh-oh_ , Luke thought. She was using the formal names.

 

“I’d like you to meet someone. Han Solo, meet my parents. Chancellor Padmé Skywalker and Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker.” 


	4. So you're a pilot hey?

 

The look of irritation was apparent in Leia’s eyes as she introduced the man standing beside her to her parents. Anakin noticed this straight away and it threw him off guard a little. The _man_ standing next to his daughter was not quite what he had expected. He looked much older than the twins, had little sense of style and the less said about his hair the better.

 

The man standing in his hallway next to his daughter contrasted with her deeply. Leia was wearing a white Senatorial gown in the Alderaanian fashion. Her hair was wound back in an intricate design and her youthful face was scrunched up in a face Anakin hadn’t seen for years. It was the face she pulled when she didn’t get her way. He couldn’t help but smirk- it was obvious that Leia had been arguing with him.

 

Anakin looked over at his son to see his reaction. Although Luke had a look of shock on his face, he didn’t seem all too surprised. He obviously knew more than he was letting on. Anakin decided he’d deal with him later.

 

Luckily, Padmé sprung into action almost immediately. Standing up she made her way over to her daughter and her companion.

 

“Welcome, Mr. Solo! You two must be exhausted. Sit, sit,” she said with her motherly charm kicking in. Leia shot her a look of appreciation.

 

“Well actually it’s Captain Solo Chancellor Skywalker,” Han replied, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. Leia swiftly kicked him underneath the table.

 

“Captain Solo?” inquired Anakin, the first words he had spoken since they had arrived. Everyone at the table looked at Han expectantly.

 

“Yeah. Proud owner and Captain of the Millennium Falcon. Fastest ship in the galaxy,” Han replied, the pride distinct in his voice. Somewhere in his mind, Anakin heard Luke snort. But all that was going through his mind right now was Han Solo.

 

“Interesting. So you’re a pilot, hey? So what do you get up to during your ground time?” Anakin asked. _You know, besides picking up young eighteen year old Skywalkers?_ he added silently.

 

Han leant back in his chair. “Oh you know; this and that. Go back home most of the time.”

 

“Home. Where might that be?”

 

Han smirked. He obviously had this kind of unsettling effect on most of the Skywalkers. Except that he didn’t especially feel like kissing Leia’s father after an argument.

 

“Corellia,” was all he offered. Sensing the tension in the air Leia shot her mother another desperate look.

 

“So Leia... how is Bail?”

 

So as Leia, Luke and Padmé spoke about Leia’s latest political intrigues, Anakin sat in silence glaring at the Captain who was sitting at his table. There was something about him- something rogue. The way he cockily smiled back at him irritated him more. He was going to find out what Captain Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon was hiding. 


	5. All in the family

 

Dinner had been a disaster. The whole time Han and Anakin had been shooting each other evil glances. Thankfully, Padmé and Leia had kept the conversation going with their politics. Luke had just sat quietly through the whole thing with a smirk on his face. Anakin could tell it was annoying Han so he let him continue.

 

Everyone had parted ways after dinner. Luke had run off to his room to meditate. Padmé had escaped to her office to make contact with Dormé. Both Leia and Han had gone to the spare room where Han would be sleeping. And that was where Anakin was headed.

 

Using his Jedi stealth, he quietly crept along the hallway. He finally made it to the room and stood outside the door. The spare room wasn’t far from Leia’s room. This concerned Anakin. He could hear both Han and Leia amidst an argument. He pressed his ear up against the door.

 

“Why do you have to be so rude?!”

 

“Listen, Princess! I ain’t gonna suck up to your parents just because they’re chief Jedi or some politician! Han Solo doesn’t change for anyone!”

 

“Excuse me, you scruffy looking…nerfherder!”

 

Wow, his daughter sure had a mouth on her.

 

“You are the most conniving, annoying and badly dressed ignoramus I’ve ever met. I’ve had better conversations with bantha fodder!”

 

This was starting to get good.

 

“Well I’ve never had to sit around and listen to two spoilt politicians discussing work at the DINNER TABLE!”

 

“Me?! Spoilt?!”

 

“Yeah, you. Your highness…princess daughter of the Chancellor. Adopted princess of the throne of Alderaan.”

 

Alderaan? What was that all about?

 

“And I’m not the one who runs to Daddy or to little brother Lukey when she needs help! And who’s scruffy looking?!”

 

“Argh. You’d better be quiet or…”

 

“Or what, Ms. Skywalker? How about I tell the Chancellor and dearest Daddy where you two have really been? How you and I really met?”

 

Whoa. It took all of Anakin’s Jedi training not to go in there and demand to know what was going on.

 

_A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger._

 

It was obvious there weren’t any Jedi fathers.

 

“I’m not standing here and listening to this. You’ll get your money tomorrow, Captain Solo. I should have known that was all you cared about, you dirty smuggler.” With that, Leia opened the door.

 

Using his Jedi stealth once again, Anakin managed to look like he had just been passing by. Leia was visibly upset but Anakin could feel the annoyance radiating off her. And something else that he wasn’t quite sure about.

 

“Dad…” she began, a little flustered and embarrassed.

 

“Leia, is everything alright?” he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

 

She sighed. “Yeah Dad. Everything’s fine. Just checking on how Han’s doing. I’m going to go annoy Luke now for awhile. I haven’t seen him for a while.” Anakin raised his eyebrow.

 

“Sure sweetie. But I want to talk to you at some point. I wanna make sure you’re still the little girl who left here.”

 

She gave him a fake smile and hurried off to Luke’s room. Anakin considered waling went to walk in the opposite direction, but decided against it. He hadn’t finished his eavesdropping for the evening yet.

 

\--

 

Leia stormed into her brother’s room. Anakin watched from the corner and saw her use what little Force knowledge he had taught her to slam the door behind her. Ouch. He crept up to the door and listened closely.

 

“Leia!” he heard his son whine. He smirked. That was Luke for you. One of the best Padawans he’d ever seen. Fought as hard as he could. But sith, could he whine!

 

“I’m sorry, Luke. But you’re involved in this too. And if Han’s gonna spill, we’re going to have to take this into our own hands. Don’t let me face the wrath of our parents alone.”

 

“Alright. Calm down. I’m sure they won’t do anything. They’re just a little overprotective, that’s all.”

 

“Remember that time you hurt your knee on Dad’s speeder? Both Mom and Dad grounded you from using it for three months, made the medical droid take three hours to make sure you were alright and made Artoo follow you around for the next four months?”

 

Anakin smiled again. They’d done that to teach Luke a lesson. It had worked.

 

“Alright Leia. You win. So what are we gonna tell them?”

 

Anakin listened closely. Just as Luke and Leia were about to start bickering again, he heard Padmé’s voice echoing out from her makeshift office.

 

“Ani!”

 

Silently cussing, he turned on his heel and went to find his wife with her habit of horrible timing.

 

Walking into their bedroom, he went into her extension office. All that was in it was a fixed commlink, a holo storage device and a holo to receive those pesky transmitted messages.

 

“Padmé?”

 

His wife looked up from her chair and smiled faintly. She stood and moved to him for a hug.

 

“What’s the matter, angel?”

 

“I’ve just spoken to Dormé. Apparently Mon Mothma urgently needs to have a meeting with me and it couldn’t wait three days until the Senate reconvenes. I’m sorry,” she said apologetically.

 

He sighed. Although he would miss his wife horribly, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of relief. Without her, he would be free to meddle in his kid’s affairs without guilt. As soon as Padmé left tomorrow morning, he would do some more snooping.

 

“It’s alright, angel. It’s late and we’re getting old. Let’s go to bed.” That earned him a playful jab in the stomach.

 

“Chancellors don’t get _old_ , Anakin. They _age_ gracefully.” She teased and climbed into bed without bothering to take off her dinner clothes. Chuckling, Anakin followed suit. He would enjoy tonight with Padmé and not let her worry about what kind of trouble their kids had gotten into and why.

 

Tomorrow the investigation would begin!

 


	6. Seeing Red

If anyone had seen Anakin Skywalker at that moment, they would have laughed. He had thoroughly prepared himself for his daytime snooping expedition. When Padmé had left that morning, he had urged both Luke and Leia to accompany her to the spaceport on Theed, which left Anakin alone in the house with Han for a while.

 

He had put on his darkest colour Jedi robes for camouflage. The guest room didn’t have a lot of light and Han most likely would have the shades drawn.

 

He knew what he was doing was wrong.

 

 

It was deceptive.

 

It was untrustworthy.

 

It wasn’t the proper Jedi thing to do.

 

But Anakin was going to do it anyway.

 

 

He crept along the familiar hallway as quietly as possible. Looking in, he saw that the room had already been turned into a mess. While this annoyed him, it was hardly enough evidence to convict the man. He needed something concrete about him to tie him to whatever deeds his children had been doing.

 

A small bag sat on the wooden chair in the corner of the room. It was opened and had the clothes Han had worn yesterday in it. Curious, he searched through the bag. Only more clothes. He dug deeper and a smaller item caught his attention. He lifted it out.

 

It was small, red and lacy with a thin fabric. Bringing it closer to see more clearly, Anakin was suddenly very mortified.

 

It was a woman’s thong.

 

With a horrified look on his face, he flung the offending item in shock and disgust. What on earth was Captain Solo doing with women’s underwear in his bag?!

 

Turning, he discovered he had accidentally flung it onto the bed where Solo was currently sleeping. He didn’t want to be here any longer, Anakin decided. But he had to put it away to hide his snooping.

 

Silently cursing, he tiptoed over to the bed. Solo had kicked off half the blankets and currently was drooling on his pillow. Anakin moved closer and used the Force to pick up the red number and put it back in the bag.

 

Silently thanking the stars on his success, he turned to leave. He wasn’t sure he wanted to delve into Solo’s personal life much more at this level. Unfortunately, in his snooping Anakin’s lightsaber had fallen off his belt and onto the floor.

 

It was pure luck that he tripped over it on his way out of the room, causing a crash loud enough to wake up Owen and Beru on Tatooine.

 

_Busted._

 

Han Solo rapidly sprung up in bed. The noise had woken him. Glancing around the room, he tried to remember where he was. It was when he saw the tall man wearing Jedi robes standing in the middle of his room that he remembered.

 

It was Leia’s father. But why was he in his room?

 

“Hey! What are you doing in here?!” he demanded.

 

 _Think fast,_ Anakin thought to himself- except no explanation came. So he had to rely on something else.

 

“I’m not doing anything in here,” he said, while waving his hand.

 

_Good old Jedi mind tricks!_

 

Except for some reason this one wasn’t working. Han’s face got redder.

 

“Excuse me, Paps!?”

 

“Go back to sleep,” Anakin tried again. Still to no avail.

 

_Sith…_

 

“Get out of here!” he ordered furiously.

 

Sheepishly, Anakin made a quick exit from the room, remembering to pick up his lightsaber.

 

_So much for Jedi stealth…_

 

**\--**

 

By the time Han had managed to make himself presentable, both Luke and Leia had returned from the Theed Spaceport. He was still pretty angry at having found the Princess’ father snooping in his room this morning.

 

She sure had one overprotective daddy; and a Jedi no less! Han had heard all kinds of stories about the Jedi during his travels. Since he was a smuggler, most of the stories came with a bottle of Corellian whiskey and the odd game of Sabacc.

 

Han thought it was all ridiculous. The Force didn’t exist in his opinion and the hokey religion was used to scare off petty criminals like him and his friends. So in short, Han Solo wasn’t afraid of any Jedi. What Han Solo was uncomfortable with was a hypersensitive father.

 

Anakin Skywalker had been giving him frightening glares ever since he had arrived. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that Han was obviously attracted to his daughter.

 

But how did he know? Ever since he and Chewbacca had met the twins in a shady bar in Mos Eisley, he and Leia had bickered non-stop. At first he thought her to be a spoilt and stuck-up girl, obsessed with the fame that came with being a Skywalker. Slowly, as they had begun to help each other she had shown how passionate a woman she was.

 

A blush crept up the infamous Han Solo’s face as he remembered the kiss they had shared in the cockpit of the _Millennium Falcon_. That girl sure could kiss!

 

Han grimaced as he repeated that sentence in his head. _Girl_. Was he a complete idiot? He had gotten involved in a couple of kid’s escapades and with the promise of a reward for his efforts, had followed them to their family home.

 

Han Solo wasn’t one to back off a challenge, especially when there was money involved. But he was close to it. There was something about Anakin Skywalker that made him shiver.

 

If he had anything to say about, he’d be collecting his money and leaving the Skywalker family homestead as soon as humanly possible. 


	7. Hokey religions and lunchtime

Since the morning’s embarrassing incident, Anakin had stayed out of his children’s and Solo’s ways. He needed some time alone to think about what his next plan was. He felt a little stupid for being caught like he was this morning. Since when was Anakin Skywalker clumsy or at a loss for words?

 

Simple- since he had to deal with an eighteen year old daughter. Thousands of questions ran through his head, with the number one being _was Leia sleeping with Han Solo?_

 

He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t believe it! Leia was his baby girl!

 

He shuddered as he thought about what he found in the older man’s bag. What if it was Leia’s? He pushed that thought far from his mind. That wasn’t something he was willing to deal with now. Thank goodness, Threepio barged into the room to take his thoughts off it.

 

“Master Anakin, lunch has been prepared. Luke and Leia will be seated shortly, as will Master Solo,”

 

“Thank you, Threepio.”

 

Since Padmé wasn’t here to enjoy the casual lunch, Anakin would be left alone with the kids…and with Han. A grin played across his face. This was going to be interesting.

 

\--

 

A few moments later, nearly everyone had been seated at the table.

 

“Where’s your guest, Leia?” Anakin asked innocently. Luke smirked as Leia kicked him under the table.

 

“He should be coming. Threepio just went and got…”

 

She was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded much like a protocol droid being kicked. Anakin raised his eyebrow as he heard Han’s voice echo into the dining area.

 

“I SAID I WAS COMING, GOLDENROD!”

 

The man of the hour stormed into the dining room, closely followed by Threepio.

 

“I am terribly sorry, Master Solo. Please, take a seat.”

 

Han gruffly sat down in the offered chair and glared at the protocol droid as he walked off.

 

“Stupid droid walked in on me using the refresher,” he mumbled. It took Anakin all the strength in the world not to burst out laughing then and there.

 

“Well, Threepio’s a bit of a...”

 

There was a stifled laugh and a snort from Luke across the table.

 

“An impatient droid…” he continued, looking downwards.

 

“Yeah, I’ve kind of noticed that, Paps!” Han replied hotly, glaring at Anakin.

 

 _He thinks I put Threepio up to it_ , Anakin realised. He smirked.

 

The Handmaidens began to bring out lunch. Through the entrée, everyone was unbelievably quiet, probably trying to avoid any confrontations. This was definitely an unusual occurrence; one which Anakin was going to take advantage of.

 

“So Mr. Solo…”

 

“Captain Solo,” Han immediately jumped in, warranting the exact reaction Anakin was hoping for.

 

He laughed, sarcasm tinged throughout. “Of course; _Captain Solo_. I hear you’re a sceptic when it comes to the Jedi Order and the Force. May I ask why?”

 

“Dad, please.” begged Leia from her place next to Solo. Her face was a dark shade of red. Luke on the other hand had a look of amusement plastered on his face.

 

“Yeah, Han. What is your problem with the Jedi?” he asked, silently siding with his father.

 

Leia groaned. “Han, you do not have to ans…”

 

“Sure, I do, Ms. Skywalker. I think it’s all a big show. It’s some old hokey religion that is trying to keep their power by claiming they’re the guardians of the peace or whatever other crap they spout. I for one don’t buy it.” He leaned back in his chair smugly, silently urging Anakin to reply.

 

_Anger is a path to the dark side…_

 

_And so is dealing with morons such as Captain Han Solo._

 

So instead of getting angry, Anakin thought it would be best to fight fire with fire. Fighting the urge to tap into his Force-choke abilities, he leaned back in his chair too, mimicking the pilot’s casual position.

 

“Interesting thoughts you’ve got, _Captain_. Not warranted of course, but then again what would a pilot like you know?”

 

This was getting good.

 

“Listen, Paps. I might not be the great Anakin Skywalker but I’ve been around; seen a few things in this galaxy. I’m not as clueless as you think I am. _Sir_ ,” he added for the final push.

 

Oh yeah, this was getting _really_ good.

 

Anakin laughed again. This guy thought he knew everything- even more then the great Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker. He’d show him.

 

“Would you like to put your money where your mouth is, Mr. Solo?” he asked, standing up.

 

Across the table, Anakin heard another groan come from his daughter.

 

Mimicking Anakin’s motion, Han stood up too and looked at Anakin straight in the eye.

 

“Name your time, place and price old man.”

 

“Tomorrow morning, right here. We race the two spare ships I have around the back. If you win, you can keep it. Plus whatever my daughter here owes you,”

 

Leia’s eyes grew wide and she shot a glance at Luke. He knew something was up.

 

“And if you win?”

 

“In that most likely scenario, you pack your stuff and walk out of here. Just beating you will give me enough satisfaction, _Solo_.”

 

They shot daggers at each other through their eyes.

 

“Dad, please, I think you’re being a little unreasonable! And Han, stop being so childish!” Leia lectured.

 

On the other hand, Luke was excited. “Don’t listen to her. Come on!”

 

“You’re on, Paps.”

 

Han quickly spun around and stormed out of the room. Just as Luke was about to open his mouth and say something, a loud “Shut your mouth, kid!” echoed into the room.

 

“I hope you’re satisfied, Father,” spat Leia as she walked out of the room.

 

Of course, Anakin did feel bad for embarrassing his daughter. But the sooner he put Han Solo in his place, the sooner he could get rid of him. Leia’s anger was a price he was willing to pay.

 


	8. Daddy Daughter Talks

he twinge of guilt Anakin had felt before had turned into a giant boulder by this time. He had taken the afternoon off after lunchtime’s antics to do some training with Luke. Neither of them had mentioned Anakin’s wager nor his suspicions about what Luke and Leia had been up to on Tatooine.

 

It was now evening and while he wasn’t willing to back down on tomorrow’s adventure, he felt that now was the best time to have that talk with Leia. He gently tapped on her door.

 

“Go away!” came back an annoyed voice.

 

Anakin knocked again. “It’s me.”

 

No reply. Using the Force, he opened up his daughter’s locked door. Leia was sitting on her bed, looking incredibly annoyed. “What do you want?”

 

“Just to talk, Princess,” He sat on the corner of her bed and glanced around her room. Because Leia spent a lot of her time on Alderaan, her room hadn’t changed much. The walls were painted a light pink and were adorned with many holos of her family.

 

There were many pictures of all four of them, pictures of Obi-Wan, of the Organas and even one of Yoda and the twins at Luke’s padawan initiation. It was a room full of memories of his little girl. But looking at Leia now, Anakin felt a little sad. She wasn’t his little girl anymore.

 

All the while, Leia had been staring at him while he was on his train of thought. “Well? Did you come here to apologise?”

 

Startled back into reality, Anakin glared at her daughter. True, she did have a reason to be angry with him. But that didn’t make it much better that his eighteen year old daughter was berating him.

 

Padmé often used the same trick on him. It drove him nuts. Obi-Wan’s comments from what seemed like an age ago rung in his ears, _“She’s a politician, and they’re not to be trusted”._

 

Smirking, Anakin silently agreed with his old Master.

 

“No, Leia, I didn’t come in here to apologise. From my point of view, I have nothing to apologise for. Your friend; Han Solo will be a sore loser come tomorrow!”

 

Leia rolled her eyes. “And what makes you so sure you’ll beat him?”

 

Well if that wasn’t a crush to Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker’s ego, he wasn’t sure what was.

 

“Give your old man a break, Leia! I may not have been out in the field for a while, but I’m still better than that scoundrel you brought home!”

 

Another eye-roll.

 

“Alright, Father. But you still shouldn’t have treated him that way. He is my guest and while he may not be immaculately dressed or smell like a prime Coruscant citizen, he should be treated with respect. I’m not a child anymore and you need to respect my choice in…”

 

She paused.

 

“Your choice in what, Leia? Your choice in guests?”

 

_Or scoundrels…_

 

Leia sighed.

 

“Yes, Father. My choice in guests!”

 

Anakin stood up and walked over to the holo of himself and Padmè with the twins on the day they were born. They were so happy. Even though Anakin had nearly turned to the Dark Side, the birth of their children shone a light into their lives like no other. What he didn’t anticipate at that moment in the holo was how eighteen year old daughters could cause an old Jedi such heartache.

 

“How did you meet him, Leia? Please tell me, I’m your father. I can help you. Are you in some sort of trouble?”

 

His thoughts went back to the conversation he had overheard. Looking at his daughter, he could tell she was struggling to keep up the Senator Façade she was so good at maintaining.

 

“You owe him money, I know that much. And Luke is in on it too. Don’t think that I don’t know,” he accused, a little more forcefully then he would have liked.

 

“You were eavesdropping, weren’t you?” Leia accused back at him, in the most dignified manner she could muster. Inside however, she was outraged.

 

At this moment, Anakin was not impressed. In fact, he was bordering on down right pissed off. His annoyance at his daughter’s defiance had clouded his judgement.

 

“Are you having sex with Han Solo?!” he suddenly blurted out, in a tone that would have had the Sith order killing themselves with their own red blades.

 

For a brief moment there was nothing but silence. Leia stared at her father, horrified at the words that had just come out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Anakin stared at Leia, the weight of what he had just said developing on his shoulders.

 

_I really am an idiot…_

 

“GET OUT!” Leia screamed at him, before he had the chance to react. For what felt like the millionth time since Anakin had arrived at the Lake Retreat, he sheepishly left the room. 


	9. Let the games begin...

Anakin had gotten up very early the next morning to meditate. His argument with Leia yesterday had done little to ease his conscience. Despite the fact that he knew his daughter would be even more furious with him after today, he didn’t mind too much. At the moment, the need to beat Han Solo at his own game was consuming his thoughts.

 

It had been a while since Anakin had flown any type of ship. He had been cooped up at the temple helping Master Yoda with assigning new padawans. The last time he had been out on a mission was to rescue Obi-Wan. Not surprisingly.

 

Snapping himself back into the present, Anakin smirked as he heard Han walking down the hall. It was breakfast time. Han strode into the room and casually pulled out a seat.

 

“Where’s my food, Goldenrod?” he barked at the protocol droid.

 

“Coming right away, Captain Solo.”

 

Eying Anakin, a grin came over Han’s face.

 

“Are you ready to be beaten today, Master Jedi?” he asked, sarcastically spitting out the last part.

 

Apparently whatever had made Han cocky yesterday had tripled its effect. Anakin just prayed it wasn’t the exclusive use of his daughter’s body.

 

Not wanting to show any weakness, Anakin leant forward.

 

“I believe the question is - are _you_ ready to be beaten, Solo. You, my scoundrel friend, do not stand a chance in seven Sith pits.”

 

Han let out a sarcastic chuckle.

 

“Lemme get this straight, Paps. You and I…are not friends,”

 

Anakin glared evenly at the man that sat across from him. Everything about him aggravated him. His hair was untidy. His boots were ugly. His odour left something to be desired. What did his daughter see in this punk?

 

“Let me get _this_ straight, Han. You lay a hand on my daughter…and they’ll need more than a Coruscant Bacta Tank to reconstruct your face.”

 

Standing, Anakin used the Force to float towards himself a pera fruit. Taking a bite out of it, he strode past Han.

 

“I’ll be watching you, Han Solo. And if you have anything to do with the trouble my kids have gotten themselves into, you’d do well to kiss your scoundrel ass goodbye.”

 

And with that, he left the room.

 

\--

 

Hours later, both Han and Anakin found themselves respectively in the cockpits of the _Star Dreamer_ and the _Coruscant Wings_. It was time for the final showdown. Before they jumped in, they had agreed on a fair truce. Anakin would refrain from using the Force if Han refrained from using the extra power coupling found on the _Star Dreamer_. Naturally, of course, Anakin kept his fingers crossed behind his back. It was a habit he had used since he was a nine-year-old padawan. Obi-Wan had finally caught on and forbade him from ever using the technique again.

 

 _Well, Obi-Wan isn’t here_ , he thought smugly. _And I’m sure if he was, he’d encourage me to beat the crap outta Han Solo!_

 

\--

 

Luke and Leia were standing outside on one of the many balconies the retreat boasted. Anakin had paid Luke double his allowance to make sure the decision would swing his way if need be. Luke had agreed and pocketed the money, with the intention of a fair fight. He was a Jedi, after all.

 

“I have a bad feeling about this, Luke,” muttered Leia to her brother.

 

“Come on, Leia. If Dad beats Han maybe he’ll go easy on us. It’ll be fun! I haven’t seen either of them this worked up before!”

 

Frowning, she shook her head.

 

“Han may be a smuggler and a scoundrel, but he has a good heart. If Dad only knew what he did for us…maybe he wouldn’t be so harsh on him. But then again, if only Han shut up and stopped being such a nerfherder…”

 

“We can always pray,” Luke interrupted. “Okay, here they go. I put 20 credits on Dad.”

On cue, the _Star Dreamer_ and the _Coruscant Wings_ took off. Both pilots skilfully performed the usual tricks. The twins remained unimpressed.

 

“Come on, do something,” whined Luke.

 

Leia hit her brother on the arm. “Shhh!”

 

Then, the good stuff began to happen. Evening out higher, the ships began to level. They suddenly did a turn and began to race flat out in the opposite direction, south-west to Theed.

 

“Woohoo! Go Dad!” yelled Luke, raising his fist in the air in support. Embarrassed, Leia picked up the comlink that connected to both ships and turned it on.

 

“Okay, enough please. You’re both going to kill yourselves up there!”

 

A muffled response told her that the ships were currently in communication with each other. Which wasn’t a good sign.

 

“Luke, they’re talking to each other up there!” she screeched to her brother who was transfixed on the ships.

 

“Who cares, whatever they’re saying is gearing them up even more, look!”

 

Horrified, Leia looked upwards again. The ships were getting faster and gaining momentum. This was getting ridiculous.

 

Then all of a sudden, the _Star Dreamer_ lurched. The _Coruscant Wings_ gained even more speed and did three air somersaults, declaring its victory. Anakin had won. 


	10. Rematch!

Han Solo was pissed off. In fact, he was more than pissed off. He was seeing red. As he thought of that phrase, he got even angrier. The old man had cheated! He had bent the rules they had agreed on and cheated his way to victory!

 

Okay, fair enough, Han would have done the same thing given the opportunity. Cheating was a smuggler’s way of life. It was how he had shifted Lando out of the _Millennium Falcon_. But Jedi were not supposed to cheat!

 

He gruffly stormed into the living room, where Anakin was sitting in his favourite chair. Luke and Leia were also in the room, congratulating him on his win Han assumed. Leia in the room or not in the room, Anakin was going to cop it.

 

“You!” he exclaimed, pointing his finger straight at Anakin. With a feigned look of surprise, Anakin shrugged.

 

“Yes, you! You lying, cheating Jedi scum!”

 

Once again, Anakin pretended to not know what Han was talking about.

 

“Wait a second, Han. I saw what happened. Dad won fair and square! You lurched and he took the opportunity!” interrupted Luke.

 

No way was this kid gonna show up Han Solo. No way was Anakin Skywalker gonna get away with cheating and snooping!

 

“Oh yes he did, kid! And Leia, don’t you even think about defending him!” he shouted, pointing once again to Anakin who had taken the liberty of standing up from his chair.

 

“I guess you’re not accustomed to losing, are you Solo?”

 

“I guess you’re not accustomed to having real competition, Master,” retorted Han. He casually ran his hand through his hair then pointed at Anakin.

“You cheated. You didn’t win fairly. I want a rematch!”

 

By this time, Leia had positioned herself between the two men.

 

“Han, be careful here. Luke would have felt it through the Force if Dad had been cheating. He didn’t. Now maybe it felt that way to you because you aren’t Force-sensitive but…”

 

Han really didn’t want to do this, but Leia was giving him no choice.

 

“YOUR FATHER WENT SNOOPING IN MY ROOM AND USED IT AGAINST ME!” he bellowed out.

 

 

\--

***flashback to the race***

 

The _Star Dreamer_ and _Coruscant Wings_ were ready. Anakin smiled as he prepared for take-off. He had a plan he was dead sure would work. One would think a Jedi like himself was above petty cheating.

 

They would be wrong.

 

Anakin had a certain amount of pride he wanted to keep- all of it. Obi-Wan had often called him arrogant in his youth. An attribute he never truly lost. There was no way he was even going to _risk_ losing this race. He didn’t think for a moment he’d actually be in trouble but if he was, he needed something good. Something that wouldn’t look like he was breaking the rules.

 

 

The first few legs of the race went by fine. They did the obligatory piloting tricks. Anakin could see the captain was getting a little too cocky for his liking. Picking up the inter-ship comlink, he paged Han.

 

“Hope you’re not getting scared Solo.”

 

The comlink crackled.

 

“Not a chance, old man!”

 

“You so sure about that?”

 

Anakin spun around for the last stretch, the _Star Dreamer_ following close behind.

 

“You’re about to lose Paps!” came the reply back over the comlink.

 

 _Not likely_ , Anakin thought. They were about neck and neck now and through the Force, he could feel Luke’s watchful eye on the race. It was time to bring out the big guns.

 

Raising the comlink to his lips, Anakin smiled. This was ingenious.

 

“So Solo, tell me. How does that sexy little red thong you keep in your bag look on you? I always thought red was your colour!”

 

***end flashback***

 

Leia turned to Anakin, horrified.

 

“Is that true?!”

 

Suddenly, Anakin found the ground quite interesting. “Well it depends on how you look at it.”

 

Han was enraged.

 

“Depends?! You won by TRICKERY! Cheap, Jedi trickery! I want a REMATCH!”

 

Luke took his place next to his sister. “Hold on here. Han’s right, sorry to say it. You won by default.”

 

“But I still won!” Anakin protested. He wasn’t about to get shifted out of his title. No way. Not by Leia, not by Luke and certainly not by Han.

 

“Dad, that’s not the point. You won unfairly,” Leia replied through gritted teeth.

 

“Damn straight he did,” intervened Han, earning him a kick in the foot by Leia.

 

“Let’s settle this calmly. You two should have a rematch BUT…”

 

But? But what?

 

“Not at racing,” finished Luke, for his twin.

 

Anakin was puzzled. If not at racing, then what?

 

“Sabbac,” Han suddenly said.

 

 

Anakin began to panic. He was a Jedi with many great skills. That’s why he chose piloting. He’d blown up a droid command centre at age nine, for Sith’s sake! But gambling…he’d stand no chance. No chance in seven Sith pits. But once again, his pride took over. Anakin Skywalker was never one to back out on a challenge.

 

“You’re on.” 


	11. Sabacc

They had wasted no time in organising the Sabacc game to start. This was where Han was in his element. In the bag of mystery, he had pulled out his overused cards and his pouch full of credits. If they were going to play, they were going to do it properly- Corellian style. For the moment, Han chose to ignore the fact he was playing Sabacc with a Jedi. He chose to picture himself in a shady bar, much like the Mos Eisley cantina, with a glass of strong Corellian whiskey in his hand, and a rich Las Tella cigar in his mouth.

 

They had moved out onto the back balcony and set up what Han liked to call the “gaming arena”. Anakin had gruffly obliged, obviously still annoyed. Luke and Leia, while openly berating their father had apologised to Han in the meantime. They too were seated in the gaming arena to ensure there was to be no more cheating.

 

Laying out the cards on the table, Han leaned back in his chair. Propping his feet on the probably very expensive table, he grinned. This would ensure him the win. There was no possible way he could lose a Sabacc game. He was the great Han Solo- people all over the galaxy feared his skills.

 

Okay, so he had lost a fair few games. Lost quite a few ships; lost even more credits. He had won many a bruised eye during his time as a smuggler, but none more than his brief stopovers in Corellia. When he had won the _Millennium Falcon_ from Lando, he had received one of the biggest black eyes. He was actually quite proud of it. At the moment, the _Falcon_ was being babysat by Chewie on Coruscant. Han had let him take the ship on his own when he hitched a ride with Leia on Bail’s _Tantive IV_ to Naboo.

 

The man of the house, Anakin, had yet to show his face. _Typical_ , Han thought. To his side were Luke and Leia. Leia was obviously nervous, which was a sight he had never seen before. Then, to interrupt Han’s thoughts, Anakin sauntered in and took his seat at the opposite end of the table.

 

“Ready to lose, Paps?” Han asked the man sitting across from him. Anakin chuckled in response.

 

“Can’t you think of a better insult, Solo? It’s getting quite old to tell you the truth.”

 

This time it was Han’s turn to chuckle. He could smell the fear radiating off Anakin. It was the smell of the knowledge that he was going to lose to Han Solo.

 

“I’m assuming you know the rules?” Han questioned, eyeing Anakin as he dealt out the cards. Anakin didn’t say anything as he picked up the cards.

 

“Solo…” he said evenly as he shuffled through his cards. Han grinned as he stared down at the backs of his own cards. He had deliberately bought the ones with pictures of scantily clad women- of all races. Han watched Anakin take one of the cards and turn his head sideways. “Tasteful playing cards you have here,” was his only remark.

 

“I won them from my last opponent. The cards themselves were the last thing he owned.” Han boasted, warranting an eye-roll from Luke, who watching on. Leia sat emotionless.

 

“So what are we playing for Solo? I assume the previous arrangements are off…”

 

“Yeah, you got that right!” Han interrupted. “I say we play for credits, just like a real game. Man to man. If I win, I want you to pay me what Leia promised me plus a little extra for the emotional distress I’ve suffered these past few days. I also want an apology!”

 

Anakin couldn’t help himself. He laughed. “Me? Apologise? When banthas fly, Solo!” Han shrugged.

 

“I guess you’ll never find out how your beautiful, responsible, politician daughter ended up in the _Millennium Falcon_ with a mercenary like me,” he said, in an almost song-like voice.

 

Daggers nearly shot out of Anakin’s eyes.

 

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

 

_There are no idiots, except for Han Solo._

 

He’d get his money. “Let’s play.”

 

 

\--

 

It had been a tense game. Han had taken pity on Anakin and let him have a few practice runs before the real game started. They had to alter and bend the rules a little since Anakin was adamant that the twins would not play.

“Padmé would kill me if she found out I let the twins gamble,” he had mumbled. So here they were, two grown men playing Sabacc. The sight was ridiculous- Luke and Leia were sitting off to the side, bickering. Han and Anakin were both hunched forward, their foreheads scrunched in concentration. This was the big game. It was all or nothing.

 

Han and Anakin looked at each other, eye to eye. They both had great Sabacc faces- neither knew what the other was hiding. Admittedly, Anakin had tried to cheat. Using the Force, he had tried to see what cards Solo was hiding. He had even tried to use a Jedi mind trick- that had also failed miserably. He was on his own for this one.

 

But looking at his cards, he smiled. He was sure he was going to win. He had a full house. There was no possible way he could lose now. He laid down his cards on the table. “Looks like we have a winner here, Solo. And it isn’t YOU!” Anakin gloated.

 

Han chuckled and shook his head. He laid down his own cards on the table- royal flush. Anakin froze and his blood nearly ran cold. He had lost!

 

“Read ‘em and weep, Paps! You LOSE!”

 

Anakin was at a loss for words. He, the grand Jedi Master HAD LOST TO HAN SOLO! He felt the anger pulsate through him. It took all the strength he had not to reach out with his hands and Force-choke the smuggler, who was parading around with that cocky grin on his face. Enough was enough.

 

Anakin knocked over the table using the Force and stormed over to Solo.

 

“I guess you’ll be apologising right about now, Paps!”

 

Anakin frowned and threw a handful of credits at the smuggler.

 

“I’m sorry I ever met you, Solo. I’m sorry that my innocent children got caught up with the scum of the universe! I’m not sorry that Leia will NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

 

Han’s cocky smile disappeared. He’d had enough of the Skywalkers. No stubborn politician was worth this. He had his money. It was time to leave.

 

“Fine by me, Skywalker.” He grabbed his bag which Threepio had conveniently packed and left for him. “Nice meeting you, kid,” he said on his way out to Luke. He marched through the house, not looking back.

 

 _To hell with these people_ , he thought. None of this was worth the credits Anakin had given him.

 

“Han, wait!” That voice made him stop in his tracks and turn around. It was Leia.

 

“Please, Han. Don’t leave like this! He didn’t mean it!”

 

Han was shocked. The great Leia Skywalker was actually _begging_ him? Her big, brown eyes looked into his own. Could it be true- that maybe she did have feelings for him? Her dad wouldn’t allow it anyway. He was better off without her.

 

“Goodbye, sweetheart,” he spat at her. She stepped back, obviously hurt. “Don’t forget to tell Daddy dearest what little Leia and Lukey were doing in the big, bad Mos Eisely cantina. You were one tough job, Your Worship.”

 

With that, Captain Han Solo left the Skywalker residence. 


	12. Return of the Chancellor

It had been three days since the Incident, as Anakin called it. Leia had since left for Alderaan again and Luke was planning on leaving for Coruscant the next day. For the first time, Anakin actually felt like a bad parent. While he didn’t regret how he treated Solo, he did feel bad about upsetting Leia.

 

What she didn’t understand was that he had done it for her. She was better off not bringing home poorly-mannered _men_ from wherever in the galaxy she had found them. He was a bad influence on her. He had encouraged his children to go charging around the galaxy doing Force-knows what! That was another thing- he never did find out what Luke and Leia had been doing.

 

His incessant need to show up Han Solo had distracted him from what he really should have been doing- looking out for his children. He dropped his head into his hands.

 

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

 

_Clearly not when you’re the father of twins._

 

 

Suddenly, Anakin heard a familiar voice ring through the house.

 

“Anakin?”

 

Padmè had returned home early! “In here, Padmè,” he called out to her, preparing himself for the worst. She walked into their bedroom and immediately threw herself at him. He buried his face in her curly hair. “How was the meeting?”

 

Padmè groaned. “Boring as usual, Senator Mothma could have waited for the meeting. Although it was revealed that the new Senator of Naboo is pregnant and now has to take maternity leave, leaving me to try and re-integrate Jar-Jar back into the Senate. But enough of politics- what have I missed out on here?”

 

\--

 

“You did WHAT!”

 

Anakin cringed. His wife could certainly be intimidating when she wanted to be. He lowered his head in shame again.

 

“I gave him his marching orders. Trust me; it was the right thing to do! What if he and Leia were…” he paused and looked at her straight in the eye. “What if Leia was having sex with him!”

 

Padmè’s face was in a look of shock and horror. Surely, he didn’t insinuate this to Leia?

 

“Anakin, did you ask Leia that?” she asked carefully, not sure if she wanted the answer. He nodded.

 

She groaned- how was it possible she married the most powerful and most _clueless_ Jedi alive?

 

“Anakin, I can’t believe you did that! Have you completely lost your mind?!”

 

Silence.

 

“Did you try and fix it with her? Did you apologise?”

 

More silence.

 

“Did you even confront the kids about where they’ve been instead of snooping around and causing trouble with their guest?”

 

Even more silence.

 

Padmè groaned. Lucky she had come home when she did, before her husband could cause any more trouble. “We are going to fix this NOW. I am leaving tomorrow and I know you are on leave from the temple so you’ll be here waiting to apologise to Leia when she’s finally ready to see your face.”

 

He knew better than to argue with her. She was the Chancellor of the Republic after all. But she was also a mother. Smiling for the first time in days, Anakin pulled his wife in for another hug. “Did I mention the fact that I’ve missed you?” She kissed him briefly on the lips.

 

“Not tonight, Ani.”

 

Turning, she called for Threepio. “Threepio, can you please set up the living room? Anakin, Luke and I will be having a discussion there shortly.”

 

“Of course, Mistress Padmè. Shall I fetch Luke for you?”

 

Anakin sighed. “No, I’ll do it. Thank you, Threepio,”

 

As Threepio left the room, Anakin sighed. “I’ll meet you in the intervention room.”

 

Padmè stood and kissed her husband on the cheek. “I look forward to it.”

 

\--

 

Anakin cautiously knocked on his son’s door. While Luke had been friends with Han and was supporting his sister, he hadn’t completely disowned his father. Anakin was grateful for that now. When Luke didn’t answer, he opened the door anyway. Luke was in a deep meditation.

 

“Son, we need to talk.”

 

Luke slowly opened his eyes and stared at him. “About what, Dad?”

 

 

Anakin sighed. “You’ll see. Come, your mother is waiting for us.”

 

Luke diligently followed Anakin into the room and sat down in the seat opposite his parents. His mother smiled. “Hello, Luke.”

 

“Hi, Mom. What’s this about?”

 

Padmè looked at her husband expectantly.

 

_A Jedi shall not know anger._

 

_A father shall not know fear when confronting his children._

 

He cleared his throat.

 

“Luke, I need you to tell me the truth. What were you and Leia doing and why are you hiding it from us?” 


	13. The Mos Eisley Cantina

_ust about a month ago…_

 

“I can’t believe we’re STUCK HERE!” groaned Leia to her brother, as she slammed her hands down on their ship, the _Twin Suns_. Luke rolled his eyes at his sister’s complaining. Politicians were never any help when it came to fixing things…like this ship. Okay, so it had been Luke’s fault that the ship had crashed. Technically, if Leia hadn’t been annoying him, he wouldn’t have crashed. Simple.

 

They had already commed Owen and Beru and told them they wouldn’t be visiting. Owen would no doubt comm Anakin right away if he knew the truth of _why_. And Luke didn’t particularly feel like dealing with his grumpy uncle today. Or an extremely agitated overprotective Jedi father. No thanks.

 

 

“I can’t fix this, Leia. We’re better off selling this for scrap metal at Watto’s junkyard over at Mos Espa,” Luke told his sister, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Leia shook her head.

 

“We’re on the other side of Tatooine, Luke! The closest place is…Mos Eisley,” she replied, shielding her eyes from the sun and looking towards the direction of the town. Luke raised his eyebrows as he realised what place she was referring to. Anakin had told them stories about Mos Eisley. It was no place for two famous eighteen year olds to be hanging about. But they had no choice.

 

“Stay behind me,” Luke ordered as they approached the city. Leia rolled her eyes and felt her blaster through her clothes. “Luke, please. You’d probably be safer hiding behind me! Don’t try anything,” she warned.

 

They approached with caution. “We need to find someone to take us to Alderaan,” Leia reasoned. “If I don’t turn up for the Royal Ball, Bail will be disappointed. According to Dad’s stories, the worst type of smugglers and pilots are here. I’m sure with enough persuasion we’ll be able to get one to help us.”

 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” muttered Luke.

 

\--

 

Moments later, the twins found themselves in the middle of a cantina. Lively music filled the air and Leia took it upon herself to scan the crowd. Luke let his overstimulated politician sister take charge. He would feel through the Force if she was in trouble anyway. Within moments, he felt someone tap his shoulder.

 

“I’ve found someone,” Leia said, indicating for him to follow her. His eyes followed the path to a man and a Wookiee sitting at the booth. He reluctantly followed her.

 

“I understand that you are the captain of a ship?” Leia began, looking directly at the human.

 

The man smirked and chuckled. “Understood correctly, sweetheart. Name’s Han Solo, Captain of the _Millennium Falcon_. Fastest ship in the galaxy,” he added, puffing his chest out in a delusion of manly pride, or so Leia thought.

 

“We need passage to the Alderaan system. And no questions asked,” Leia firmly told the cocky captain. She already didn’t like him.

 

He held up his hands in defence. “Not a problem, Your Royal Highnessness of the Senate. But if we run into any holoreporters, I’m shipping you and the kid here off to them. Stories like this sell for big credits!”

 

The Wookiee roared in response. Luke thought it was his turn to step in. “How many credits do you want?”

 

Han pondered for a moment. “Ten thousand.”

 

Luke’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground. “We could buy our own ship for that much!” he exclaimed.

 

Han rolled his eyes. “And the holoreporters would have a field day, Skywalker. I’ll get you to Alderaan unnoticed.”

 

“We’ll pay you the rest once we reach Alderaan,” she grumbled, as she handed over the few credits she had.

 

_There is no money at Alderaan, Leia!_

 

_Shut up, Luke._

 

\--

 

_Present_

 

“You did WHAT?!”

 

Luke cringed at his father’s voice. This was the exact reaction he was expecting. Uh-oh.

 

“You went into MOS EISLEY CANTINA! AND PICKED UP THE FIRST GUY YOU FOUND?” His face had turned a disturbing shade of red, as his cheeks puffed out a little. Luke was sure at any moment now the veins on his forehead would burst. What a sight that would have been!

 

On the other hand, his mother was slightly calmer, if only to remain the opposite of her husband. It was obvious Anakin didn’t like the idea of his children entering seedy bars in remote areas and picking up dirty scoundrels. He wasn’t surprised that that’s where they found Han Solo.

 

_Dirty scoundrel…probably smelt the credits rolling off Leia a mile away!_

 

Anakin cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure.

 

“So what happened next, Luke?” Padmè pressed. Luke sighed.

 

“Well, the whole trip was a disaster. We had to outrun at least three holoreporter ships and Leia and Han bickered the entire way there. I was surprised Leia didn’t kill him before we arrived at Alderaan.”

 

_If only…_

 

“And?” Anakin asked impatiently, tapping his fingers against the couch.

 

Luke sighed again. “And I don’t know. I left Alderaan early to take care of some business I had at the temple. You know the rest as far as I’m concerned.”

 

_Sithspawn…_

 

Hearing her comlink in the other room, Padmè excused herself leaving father and son to sit in awkward silence.

 

“I’m sorry, Dad. But I honestly don’t know the rest. That’s something only Leia will know. I was just as shocked as you were when he walked through that door.”

 

Anakin rubbed his temple. He was beginning to feel that familiar headache again. He had it when Padmè gave birth to the twins and by the Force, he swore it hadn’t gone away since. Kids were just a pain in the…

 

“Luke?” Padmè’s voice interrupted Anakin’s thoughts, as she came rushing in. Her face was creased in worry.

 

“Yes, Mom?” he asked innocently.

 

Padmè looked at Anakin, whose face now mirrored her own. “That was Bail Organa. Leia never showed up at Alderaan.”

 

 

_Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering._

 

_Sex leads to children. Children lead to problems. Problems lead to scared, worried and generally pissed off fathers._

 

Anakin didn’t need to guess twice about where Leia was. She had gone after that dirty rat Han Solo. And now, he and Luke were going to drag her back, kicking and screaming if necessary.

 

He loved his twins, really. But sometimes the messes they could get themselves into…


	14. Where in the galaxy is Leia Skywalker?

 

It wasn’t long before Anakin had collected Luke and gone onto the  _Coruscant Wings_ . They had sped off in a hurry. Padmè had given Luke strict instructions not to let Anakin lose control, she had nicely put it. Luke had accepted the underlying meaning-  _“don’t let your father Force-choke anyone”_ .

 

 

She also had words with Anakin, although Luke wasn’t sure what was exactly said. There was some kissing and some hand-holding but then Padmè had pulled the Chancellor face. Within an hour, they had taken off from the Theed spaceport.

 

"Do you have any idea of where she may have gone?" Anakin grumbled.

 

Luke shook his head in response. "No idea. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Princess has gone off to follow Han."

 

Anakin said nothing to openly express his distaste. He had truly thought that he had seen the last of Han Solo. But no. His smart, politician daughter had suddenly gotten a case of  _‘rebel teenager’_ and decided to run off after the Mos Eisley Cantina smuggler. It was ridiculous.

 

 

"Okay, well think, Luke. You’ve spent more time with him than I have. Where would he go? Use the Force- think!"

 

Luke sat cross-legged in the cabin area, trying to Force-communicate with his sister.

 

"Dammit, Leia! Where are you?"'

 

His eyes suddenly shot open.

 

_Tatooine._

 

Han had said he still had a debt to pay off to Jabba. Maybe Leia had followed him back.

 

"I think I know where she is,” Luke calmly told his father. Anakin looked at him expectantly.

 

"Well?”

 

Luke braced himself for hurricane Jedi Master. “She's followed Han back to Tatooine.”

 

\---

 

Leia sighed. She had been feeling lousy ever since Han had stormed out of the house. She had deliberately ignored her father, not even telling him when she was leaving. Currently, she was on her way back to Alderaan to return Bail’s ship to him. She had taken Threepio to help navigate.

 

She sunk back into her chair and rubbed her eyes. She missed Han.

 

"There, I admitted it!"

 

Suddenly, a soft beeping from the control panel shook her out of her thoughts. It had picked up another ship on the scope. Curious, she leant in to take a look at its details. Two life forms were present. One human and one Wookiee.

 

"No, it couldn’t be..."

 

The diagnostic confirmed it. The Millennium Falcon was in range. Leia couldn’t believe her luck. Maybe she could finally make things right with Han. She knew what she was going to do was wrong. It wasn’t the proper Senator thing to do.

 

But she was going to do it anyway. She quickly turned around the ship and changed trajectory.

 

She was headed to Tatooine.

 

\---

Luke had deliberately blocked out his father's voice after he had revealed Leia's plan. It was a good thing too. Luke was sure he had heard his father swear before, but this was in a league of its own.

“That stuck up, slimy, laser-brained, Sabacc-playing, son of a… ”

 

Block.

 

And just when Luke had thought the ranting had ended, Anakin had immediately fired up into another round.

 

“poodoo munching, egotistical, cradle-snatching nerf! I’ll tell him he can go get…”

 

Block.

 

Luke wondered if the third time would be a charm. He cautiously opened up to be welcomed by even more slandering, this time in Huttese, the native Tatooine language.

 

“FATHER!”

 

Silence.

 

It was sweet to Luke's ears. Boy, Leia was really going to get it once Anakin got hold of her. Heck, she was going to get it from him for pulling such a bonehead stunt! Another thought struck him. Leia would probably follow Han right into Jabba's lair. She would most likely reply on her supposedly fine-tuned diplomatic skills.

 

But Jabba wouldn’t listen. He knew that for a fact. Which meant Leia was probably following Han into a trap.

 

Perfect.

 

He thought about keeping this from Anakin. True, it would save Luke lots of trauma for the remainder of the trip. But then again, his anger afterwards would probably get worse.

Luke began to feel a headache approaching. Leia was lucky he was a Jedi.

 

_A Jedi's gotta do what a Jedi's gotta do_

_A brother's gotta do what his damn politician sister had forced him to do._

_  
_  
“Dad, Leia is probably walking after Han into a trap," he told his father calmly. He then winced in anticipation.

It came.

 

“Why that scruffy looking, no-good, daughter-stealing, spice-taking, foul-smelling piece of…!”

 

Block.

 

 

 


	15. Space Etiquette 101

Tatooine was just as hot and sandy as Anakin remembered. The _Coruscant Wings_ had landed in the middle of the desert, close to Mos Eisley. Jabba’s infamous palace hadn’t been too far so the Skywalker duo had opted to walk. Artoo followed close behind.

 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Luke mumbled as he looked up at the entrance of the palace. Anakin couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“If only Obi-Wan could hear you now, son.” He too looked up at the seemingly endless palace. He hadn’t ever been this close to it before, despite his living on Tatooine. The slave chip could do that to you.

 

Moments later, one of Jabba’s guards had come outside. Anakin had let Luke use the Jedi mind techniques on this one. He was so proud of his son, who handled the weak-minded guard with ease. He would definitely be making his recommendation to Obi-Wan that Luke take his trials. He would like to see Luke’s padawan braid tucked away in the same safe his was in.

 

Anakin breathed deeply. Luke had managed to reason with him on the remainder of the journey here. As much as Anakin hated to admit it, he had been acting like an idiot. He had spent most of the time meditating. Of course, he was still very angry with Han. Very angry, indeed. But he had forgiven Leia. She was his little princess after all. He just hoped she hadn’t involved herself in this mess.

 

The guard led them into a large room, where women of various species were dancing, much like in the famous Mos Eisley cantina. Anakin raised an eyebrow and then caught the eye of Jabba.

 

His mind drifted off for a moment eyeing the very familiar droid that stood beside him. Threepio. Which meant…

 

Anakin felt like all those hours he spent meditating were a waste. There was that anger the Jedi were preaching about, flowing through his veins. He wasn’t sure if he was watching one of those terrible B-grade adult Holonet films or if he’d stepped into some crazy, twisted Han Solo sex fantasy.

 

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

 

Anakin was sure he would have preferred to remain in blissful ignorance when it came to the knowledge of ‘how would Leia Skywalker look in a gold bikini?’

Beside him, he knew Luke was taking control of the situation. He caught Leia’s eye for a moment. Ever the courageous girl Padmè had raised her to be, he didn’t even see a glint of fear in her eye. Despite the fact she had followed Han here (although Anakin still liked to think _he_ kidnapped _her_ ) and gotten caught in this bizarre trap, he was proud of her for staying strong.

 

And in that simple moment, it clicked. This wasn’t his little girl sitting up there, patiently waiting to be rescued by her daddy. Leia was a young woman now. She was strong. He was almost certain he could see a plan formulating in her head. Luke finished his speech.

 

It was time for them to go into aggressive negotiations. He stopped-

 

_Lightsaber time!_

 

With a quick flick of the wrist both Luke and Anakin took out their lightsabers. Green and blue began to strike down the various species of Jabba’s minions. Many fled the room in fear. If it had have been just the one of the Jedi, surely it would not have been a success. But the Chosen One and his Jedi son in a room with two lightsabers and a room full of morons had spoke for itself. There was no one left.

 

Anakin heard a shrill cry and looked up onto the platform. Leia was strangling the foul Hutt with her own slave-chain. Anakin was impressed. The room was silent. Luke and Anakin looked at each other expectantly and then faced Leia.

 

She glared back at her two rescuers and went to open her mouth.

 

“Not a word, young lady!” Anakin snapped. “You are in so much trouble once we get back to Naboo. And make no mistake, you WILL be coming back with me, and you WILL be bringing along Captain Han Solo. We have some things to discuss.”

 

Leia could see her father was in no mood for arguments. So to keep the peace, she kept her mouth closed. Suddenly, she became very conscious of what she was wearing. She tried to hide some of her revealed flesh but failed miserably, warranting a snort from Luke.

 

Surveying the damage, Luke looked around the room. “What now?” he asked his father.

 

Anakin grinned evilly at his children.

 

“I think it’s time to find a certain Captain Han Solo!”

 

\--

 

The trio had decided to split up to find Han and Chewbacca. Luke and Leia had gone in one direction and Anakin in the other. Each team had taken their portable arm-comlinks. Leia had been fairly certain Jabba’s guards had split up Chewie and Han.

 

And for the first time, Anakin was glad to be seeing Han. They had much to discuss. More like Anakin had much to yell at the smuggler about.

 

Like Space Etiquette 101.

 

_Lesson One: It is extremely unprofessional to lure unsuspecting 18-year-old politicians into traps on Tatooine. Especially after you had just taken her father’s credits in a game of Sabacc. Which you cheated in._

 

Yep, Anakin Skywalker would definitely be having words with Han once he found him. _If_ he found him. The palace was designed so anyone who went wondering without permission would ultimately get lost and make their way to the Rancor pit. And Anakin didn’t really want to end up there.

 

He passed another set of dungeons. They all looked the same to him. He walked for another five minutes and then finally came across something that caught his eye. Or more accurately something caught his acute Jedi hearing. It was a voice.

 

It was an unmistakeable voice. Anakin had found Han.

 

Smiling, he raised the commlink to his lips. “I’ve found him.” 


	16. Wake up and smell the caf!

Anakin stood outside the dungeon. Solo hadn’t been alerted to his presence yet. Anakin knew he probably should wait for Luke and Leia to arrive. But that wasn’t going to happen. He was content listening to Han talking to himself for the moment. It was actually quite amusing.

 

“I’ll get outta here, mark my words sleazeball!” More muttering.

 

“You tell Jabba that he’ll get his money if he lets me go!”

 

And more muffled muttering.

 

“You tell that overgrown slime that he is a son of a…”

 

“You kiss your mother with that mouth, Solo?” Anakin quipped, as he opened the lock on the door and kicked it open.

 

Solo stood in the middle of the room with his mouth hanging open in shock. Anakin twirled his lightsaber and enjoyed the reaction he warranted from the pirate. He smiled.

 

“What’s the matter Solo? Not happy to see me?”

 

Han snorted. “Yeah, thrilled. Quite frankly I would have preferred the Rancor.”

 

Typical smugger _in_ gratitude. He wasn’t surprised. Han was going to get it. Big time. And while he was standing in the middle of the room, still in handcuffs, Anakin couldn’t help but seize the opportunity.

 

“Do you think its good space etiquette to lure people here to save your hide?” Anakin asked simply.

 

Han snorted in response. “I didn’t ask you to come here, Paps. And honestly, I would have preferred if you didn’t. Especially if it’s out of some misplaced sense of guilt you have for screaming at me and kicking me out of your house. Sore loser!”

 

Did this overgrown monkey actually think he travelled halfway across the galaxy to save _him_? “I didn’t come all the way here to save _you_ , Solo. If it were up to me I would have been quite content to leave you rotting here in this cell. This still wouldn’t have been far enough away from my daughter!”

 

“Oh, I see. You’re just jealous that a big, bad man is gonna take your precious little daughter away from you. Wake up and smell the caf, Paps! She’s not your little girl anymore!”

 

_A Jedi shall always control their emotions._

 

_A father shall always control his urge to punch his daughter’s suitor square in the face at any given opportunity._

 

Not this time. Anakin Skywalker was a great Jedi Master. He and his son had taken down a room full of Jabba’s guards. But not even the Chosen One was immune to such annoyance as the smart mouth of Han Solo.

 

He raised his fist and punched Han in the face. The sound of flesh connecting with flesh resonated and in slow motion, Han’s face jerked backwards. He had done it. Anakin had finally stooped to the smuggler’s level. And he was satisfied. That was until he heard a shrill voice from behind him.

 

“What on Kessel do you THINK YOU ARE DOING?”

 

Anakin winced. He knew that voice. It was Leia. And she was mighty unimpressed. He whipped around to face his daughter. She stood, eyes blazing with fury he had never seen before. Her hands were on her hips and she stood in her most menacing pose. She was small but she was still intimidating. Luke and Chewbacca stood behind her, both trying to hide their obvious amusement at the situation.

 

“Ah, Leia. Look, I found him!” Anakin exclaimed, weakly moving out of her line of sight. Her eyes widened.

 

“Han!”

 

Han winced as he moved his head around after that punch. He was already beginning to feel the bruise around his eye begin to develop. Anakin would pay for that. His eyes took a second to focus. And then he heard his name. That voice was familiar.

 

“Leia?” he asked, obviously puzzled. She began to undo his restraints.

 

For once, Anakin was genuinely confused. Why did Solo seem surprised to see her? He had found her following him and convinced her to take part in this absurd face-off with Jabba- hadn’t he?

 

“What are _you_ doing here?” Han asked, as his hands were finally let free. He stood up and enveloped her in a hug. He moved her back, holding her at arms length with his hands. His jaw nearly hit the ground.

 

“And WHAT on Kessel do you think YOU ARE WEARING?” He frantically tugged off his jacket and covered her exposed body.

 

Anakin looked at Luke, who shrugged. Chewie just growled in response. Anakin was confused. _Really_ confused. Han was surprised to see Leia. She obviously hadn’t alerted him to her presence. So that meant she had willingly followed Han and Chewie into this trap in an attempt to rescue them.

 

Anakin suddenly found his headache had returned. He looked at the couple and his eyes widened as Leia scowled at him briefly, then passionately kissed Han. Luke snorted.

 

Anakin knew this should probably send him into a murderous rage and give him the urge to Force-choke the pirate, but found all his energy had disappeared. His headache was getting worse and truthfully, he found he just wanted to go home and crawl into bed with Padmè.

 

He threw up his hands in defeat. “I’ve had it. I’m going home. Princess, Solo, Luke- onto the _Coruscant Wings_. Chewie, you take the _Falcon_ and wait on Coruscant. I’ll deliver what’s left of Han myself.” Chewie chuckled in response and growled his agreement.

 

“Let’s go,” he told Luke and ushered his son out of the room, leaving his daughter and Han to follow behind.

 

“It’s gonna be a long ride home,” Luke quipped, as he heard the bickering between Han and Leia get louder behind him. Anakin just groaned.

 

_So much for a headache free holiday…_


	17. A rose by any other name

Anakin had refused to speak to anyone on the trip back home to Naboo. He had left a Hologram with Padmé’s office telling her of his intention to take everyone back to the retreat. Other than that, he had let Luke and Threepio pilot the ship. Anakin found himself wondering just what in Sith’s name was wrong with him.

 

Had he really been that stupid to not notice that Leia actually cared about the smart-mouthed pirate?

 

Yes. Yes he had.

 

And now, because of his overprotective nature, Leia had been drawn right into Han Solo’s world of treachery and smuggling. Or maybe, she had just been drawn to him. Anakin didn’t know. He just wanted to go home and get this mess sorted out once and for all.

 

He heard a crackle coming from his commlink. It was Luke. “What is it, Son?”

 

“We’ve just had clearance from Theed Spaceport. We’re to land straight at the lake country,” He replied.

 

“Understood. Put her into the landing cycle.”

 

It was time.

 

\--

 

Padmé had come home to welcome her family. As soon as Leia stepped off the gondola, she had embraced her. She gave a quick look to Luke and Han who were trying to avert their eyes, and then to her husband who just glared back.

 

“Let’s go inside.”

 

They had all gathered in the living room. Anakin and Padmé sat in the single hoverchairs, leaving the twins and Han to sit together on the three-seater. They all looked guilty. Perfect for extracting information.

 

“Who wants to start?” Padmé asked in her no-nonsense voice. Han and Leia looked at each other crossly, but neither said anything. Luke looked away as well, suddenly fascinated by the colour of the sky outside. Padmé didn’t buy it.

 

“Well? What do you ALL have to say for yourselves? A thought? Anyone?” she asked again, her voice more icy than before.

 

Still more silence.

 

“Are you telling me neither the feisty Leia Skywalker nor the smart-mouthed Han Solo can come up with anything?” Anakin asked, clearly enjoying the power trip he and his wife were currently on.

 

Anakin swore he saw some tumbleweed go past. He cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s start with you, Leia. Recap from the point that Luke left Alderaan.”

 

\--

 

Leia hugged her brother as he stepped onto his new ship, the _Skywalker Light_. “Behave yourself, for Force sake, Leia!” Luke instructed his younger-by-a-minute twin.

 

“Same to you, Luke. I’ll meet up with everyone at the Lake Retreat.” She promised. With a Jedi bow, Luke boarded the ship and flew off. She turned to face Han who was currently getting into an argument on the loading dock with Chewie.

 

“Yeah, I KNOW you gotta go to Coruscant, furball! But I can’t just leave the Princess here!”

 

Chewie growled something in response.

 

“I don’t care, Chewie! I was promised my credits and Mistress Skywalker here is gonna get ‘em for me.”

 

Chewie growled again. Whatever he said must have had an impact on Han, because his face turned a disturbing shade of red. Chewie began to laugh.

 

“That’s none of your business, Wookiee!” he shouted and stormed off. Leia would have given anything to understand Wookiee. So she did the next best thing and followed Han back into the palace.

 

She had only just entered the grand hallway when she ran into Bail. His eyes lit up as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Leia, it is so good to see you! Breha said you had just docked. I’m glad you’re here; I have a proposition for you.”

 

It was at that moment Han chose to come bounding in. Bail stared at the intruder with a look of bemusement. So THIS was the man who had brought Leia to Alderaan. Bail took a moment to take in the appearance of the man. He obviously was a renegade; his choice in attire confirmed that. He was nothing like the males Leia had grown up with. Bail held back a snicker as he wondered what Anakin would make of this.

 

Leia looked embarrassed as Han approached them. “Your Highnessness daughter of the Chancellor, Chewie’s taken the Falcon back to Coruscant so I’ll be hitching a ride with you to wherever your little stash of credits are.”

 

She cleared her throat. “Captain Han Solo, please meet Senator Bail Organa. He is mine and Luke’s godfather and my mentor in the Galactic Senate. He is also Prince Consort of Alderaan.”

 

Han shook his hand and eyed the senator warily. He didn’t trust politicians. Leia was proof enough. “Welcome to Alderaan, Captain Solo. You were just in time to hear my proposition to young Mistress Skywalker here.”

 

Han raised his eyebrow. So the old man though he and Leia were involved enough to let him hear the proposition. Interesting. He could work with this. He smirked and bravely put his arm around Leia, who nearly jumped. Bail then raised his eyebrow in response.

 

“Well then by all means, Senator. Please continue. Don’t let me disturb the happy moment.”

 

Leia felt like having the ground swallow her whole. He was doing this on purpose. She knew it. But for the moment she ignored it, she wanted to find out what Bail had to say. “Please, go on.”

 

Bail cleared his throat and gestured for the three of them to walk with him down the never-ending hallway. “As you know, Leia, Breha and I never had any children. Breha herself is the royalty of Alderaan and she has a nephew who will be next in line to the throne. But royalty is not the same as having a strong diplomat to represent Alderaan in the Senate.”

 

Leia nodded in understanding. Her mother had explained the similar Naboo custom. “It was by pure coincidence that I married into the royal family and was also the Senator of Alderaan. But my time in the Senate is coming to an end and next year I will be retiring. That’s where you come in, Leia.”

 

“I don’t understand. I know that you have been training me to one day be involved in the Senate, but I thought the Alderaani preferred their representatives to either be natives or relations?” Leia asked, puzzled.

 

“You are right, Leia. However, I’ve discussed this with Breha and she agrees with me. I would like you to take my place in the Senate. You have nearly grown up here, under my guidance. Alderaan is your home, just as much as Naboo is. I don’t want to break the tradition of the Alderaani either, Leia. This is why I’m putting in a requisition to the High Galactic Courts to formally adopt you. This will legalise your right to take my place in the Senate. You would formally become Senator Leia Organa.”


	18. Truces at the end

**Truces at the End**

 

Padmé and Anakin looked at each other, astounded. A grin crept across Padmé’s face. “Oh, Leia honey! Congratulations!”

 

Anakin just sat there, staring into space. Leia would have to change her name. This would mean she would give up her supreme galactic status as a Skywalker. She would be giving away the very thing that made her his daughter.

 

This frightened and annoyed Anakin. He had worked hard for that name. It was about the only thing that protected Leia. And now she was going to give it up, just to have herself adopted by another family? Quite frankly, Anakin would have preferred her marrying away her name.

 

Actually, with Leia’s current choice in men sitting next to her on the interrogation couch, he retracted that last comment, hoping the Force didn’t have some twisted sense of irony.

 

Because that would just top it off.

 

_Space Etiquette 101._

 

_Lesson Two: Fathers should not in any shape or form ask, even jokingly, that their daughters be married. Especially when their current love interests are scruffy looking, Sabacc-playing cradle-snatchers who have cocky grins and keep women’s underwear in their travel bags._

 

 

Anakin was silent for a moment. Padmé was hugging Leia, congratulating her. Luke and Han were chatting on the couch, both at least having the decency to look slightly embarrassed at the current situation. Anakin’s headache had yet to disappear. In the past few days, he had been presented with one of the biggest shocks of his life.

 

His little girl was grown up.

 

He had come to realise this very slowly. She was going to become a Senator. She had already been captured and turned into a sex slave, and gotten out of it unharmed. She was bringing potential suitors, albeit, a very poor taste in potential suitors, home.

 

Leia Skywalker…Organa…whatever her name was going to be was in love.

 

He was rude.

 

He was dirty.

 

He didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

 

He aggravated Anakin to no end.

 

But Leia was obviously in love with the scoundrel. Anakin felt like kicking something. Or at least Force-choking someone. Where was Threepio when you needed him?

 

Snapping out of his melancholy thoughts, Anakin looked straight into the eyes of his daughter. He sighed. “Congratulations, Senator Organa.”

 

She smiled and pulled him in for a hug. He couldn’t help but smile genuinely in return as he hugged her back. “Skywalker-Organa, Dad,” she whispered in his ear.

 

Anakin grinned but a suspicious sounding cough distracted him from his daughter’s revelation. He peered over at the couch to see Han defiantly standing up. Luke was still sitting patiently, like the good Jedi padawan Obi-Wan had taught him to be. Han cleared his throat again.

 

“So you see, Paps, in all reality, I actually saved your kids’ hides. I think that REAL apology should be coming, say, oh, I dunno. How about now?”

 

Everybody looked at Anakin expectedly. They expected some foul-mouthed, rude, inappropriate or generally stupid comment to escape his mouth. What they didn’t expect was to hear a real laugh. Luke and Leia looked at each other, puzzled.

 

“Don’t push it, Han.” Leia warned, still gauging Anakin’s reaction, knowing too well he could become serious again at any moment.

 

“Anakin? Are you alright?” Padmé asked him, while Anakin continued to laugh. Well, guffaw was more like it. Even Han looked a little worried.

 

Anakin found he couldn’t help himself. It had only just occurred to him. After all this time bickering and snooping and generally being pissed off at the rouge, in all reality, Anakin Skywalker and Han Solo were not much different.

 

Anakin extended his hand. “I’m sorry.”

 

With a look of complete shock on his face, Han exclaimed “huh?”

 

Anakin drew him in and pulled him up in a half bear hug, and slapped him on the back in a typical male fashion. “You know what, Solo? You’re not too bad for a cheating Corellian scoundrel.”

 

Leia rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “I give up. Men!”

 

To this, both Han and Anakin laughed.

 

“Well!” exclaimed Padmé. “I believe this is a cause for celebration. Alderaani wine, anyone?”

 

\--

 

Anakin’s life had improved considerably since the last time he had visited Varykino. He had escorted Leia back to Alderaan himself to speak with Bail about the official adoption. Leia had been adamant about keeping both names and had taken a great liking to her private apartment and her own lakeside retreat on Alderaan. Anakin was grateful his daughter would be taken care of as she represented her second home in the Senate, alongside his wife.

 

Obi-Wan had just informed Luke he would be formally taking the Jedi trials. Both he and Padmé would be meeting Luke in a few days to see if he had passed. There was no doubt in Anakin’s mind that the next time he saw his son, he would be a Jedi Knight.

 

In short, life was good. But as usual, the Skywalkers (and Skywalker-Organa) had gathered at the Lake Retreat for their customary monthly holiday. This time, Leia had commed ahead and told Anakin that Han would be staying, but only for two nights. In all honesty, Anakin was actually looking forward to it. He still had a couple of scores to settle with the man.

 

So here he was, playing Sabacc with Captain Han Solo of the _Millennium Falcon_ again. They had played a few rounds, each resulting in an equal win. The game was actually quite interesting when the stakes weren’t ridiculously high.

 

Anakin had also managed to control his anger quite considerably, referring back to the Jedi Code in his mind many times during the game. It helped the urge to punch Han in the face again. Although the pilot was growing on him, there was still something that got on his nerves.

 

Most likely the fact that they were so much alike.

 

_Space Etiquette 101._

 

_Lesson Three: It is appropriate on certain occasions to remain suspicious of older men who date your young daughter, despite the fact you have determined the two of you share your less attractive qualities, such as spite, stupidity and a general ability to piss everyone around you off considerably._

 

Anakin couldn’t help himself though. He grinned as he threw another card onto the pile.

 

“So, Solo, you never did tell me where you got that gorgeous red number from?”

 

Han grinned, as he threw down his set of cards victoriously. He looked straight into Anakin’s eye.

 

“It was Leia’s.” 


End file.
